Condiment mill

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a condiment mill for products like dry garlic or citrus fruit peels comprising a classic condiment containing container ( 2 ), a breaking mechanism ( 3 ) fixed to the bottom of the container ( 2 ) and a rotatable button ( 4 ) which is arranged on the top part of the container ( 2 ) and mechanically connected to the breaking mechanism by means of a shaft ( 5 ) in the form of a drive rotating shaft. The inventive mill ( 1 ) is also provided with a cutting blade ( 6 ) which is arranged above the breaker ( 3 ) and fixed to the drive shaft ( 5 ). Said invention is characterised in that the mill is provided with means dividing the container at least into two adjacent compartments and that said dividing means ( 7 ) conforms to the condiment sizes in such a way that they are maintained in a substantially vertical position in order to be cut by the cutting blade ( 6 ).

The present invention relates to a condiment mill.

It relates more particularly to a condiment mill consisting in a conventional manner of a container in which said condiments are housed in the form of grains and a grinding mechanism, attached to the bottom of the container, capable of being rotated by a user, intended to grind said grains in order to obtain a powder for sprinkling over food.

Such mills cannot be used to provide a sufficient milling of large dimension condiments such as pimentos, citrus fruit peels, dried garlic cloves, etc. Specifically, when such condiments are inserted into the mill, the latter is difficult to operate due mainly to the soft texture of the condiments and the powder obtained is not homogenous.

The object of the invention is to propose a condiment mill that can be used to overcome some or all of the aforementioned disadvantages.

Accordingly, the subject of the present invention is a condiment mill, of the dried garlic or citrus fruit peels type, conventionally comprising a container containing the condiments, a grinding mechanism attached to the bottom of the container and a rotary knob placed on the top portion of the container and connected to the grinding mechanism by means of a shaft called the drive shaft, in order to rotate it, this mill also being provided, above the grinder, with a cutting blade attached to the drive shaft, characterized in that the mill is also furnished with a means of separating the container, into at least two compartments, arranged inside said container and in that this separation means is shaped according to the size of the condiments in order to hold the latter in a with the cutting blade.

According to several worthwhile dispositions of the invention:

the separation means consists of a ring provided with means of rotary immobilization intended to be housed in the top portion of the container, a tube that is placed coaxially inside said ring and that is connected to the latter by at least two vertical walls protruding from the tube to the periphery of the ring,

the means of rotary immobilization of said ring consist of at least one lug protruding from the outer periphery of the ring intended to interact with a notch made on the body of the container,

the container has in vertical section a frustoconical shape in which the imaginary top of the “V” of the truncated cone is situated in the vicinity of the bearing face of the mill.

The aforementioned features of the invention, and others, will appear more clearly on reading the following description of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view in perspective of a condiment mill according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an exploded view in vertical section of the mill according to FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is an exploded view in perspective of various separators.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a mill 1 for condiments of the dried garlic or citrus fruit peels, etc. type, comprising in a conventional manner a container 2 containing the condiments, a grinding mechanism 3 attached to the bottom of the container 2 and a rotary knob 4 placed on the top portion of the container 2 and connected to the grinding mechanism 3, by means of a shaft 5 called the drive shaft, in order to rotate it. Advantageously, this mill 1 is provided, above the grinder 3, with a cutting blade 6 attached to the drive shaft 5 thus making it possible to reduce the condiments to fine particles before they are ground.

According to the present invention, the mill 1 is furnished with a means 7 of separating the container, into at least two compartments, arranged inside said container 2. This separation means 7 is shaped according to the size of the condiments in order to hold the latter in a substantially vertical position in order to slice them with the cutting blade 6.

According to a preferred embodiment, shown as nonlimiting, the separation means 7 consists of a ring 8 provided with rotary immobilization means 9 intended to be housed in the top portion of the container 2, a tube 10 that is placed coaxially inside said ring 8 and that is connected to the latter by at least two vertical walls 11 protruding from the tube 10 to the periphery of the ring 8.

The means of rotary immobilization of said ring 8 consist of at least one lug 9 protruding from the outer periphery of the ring 8 intended to interact with a notch 12 made on the body of the container 2.

According to the embodiment shown, the ring 8 is furnished with two lugs 9 intended to interact in the assembled position with two notches 12 made in the top portion of the body of the container 2.

It should be noted that the container 2 advantageously has, in vertical section, a frustoconical shape in which the imaginary top of the “V” of the truncated cone is situated in the vicinity of the bearing face 13 of the mill 1, as can be seen in FIG. 2.

Such a shape of the container 2 makes it possible to limit the clearance between the condiments so that they can be held in the vertical position before being reduced by the cutting blade 6 to small pieces and then ground.

The grinding mechanism 3 housed in the bottom portion of the container 2 consists in a conventional manner of the drive shaft 5 one of whose ends is connected to a grinding wheel 14 also called a ball which interacts with a grinding ring 15 that is positioned above the latter and that is attached in a cavity, not visible, made in the container 2. A clamp 16 is attached to the bottom portion of the container 2 by screws in order to immobilize the grinding mechanism 3 on the container 2.

The top end of the shaft 5 is furnished with threads in order to attach the knob 4 immobilized on the shaft by a nut 17. This nut 17 also adjusts the fineness of the grind.

Advantageously, it should be noted that the knob 4 is furnished with a peripheral collar 18 protruding downward, in the position of assembly of the mill, making it possible to center the body of the knob 4 inside the ring 8 of the separation means 7.

This knob 4 also closes the container 2 and consequently makes it possible, simply by removing it, to fill the container 2 without removing the separation means 7.

The operation of the condiment mill will now be described with reference to all the FIGS. 1 to 3.

Depending on the type of condiments and hence their size, the user arranges the appropriate separation means 7 inside the mill (as can be seen in FIG. 3), that is to say, for example provided with two, three, four or five compartments. To do this, he unscrews the nut 17 in order to release the knob 4 and slots the tube 10 of the selected separation means 7 onto the drive shaft 5 while positioning the notches 12 made on the body of the container 2 facing the lugs 9 of the ring 8.

The user may then place the condiments in a substantially vertical position in each compartment before replacing the knob 4 and retightening the nut 17 on the drive shaft 5.

The mill is thus ready to be used to grind the condiments into a fine powder. It should be understood that, with each rotation of the knob rotatably connected to the drive shaft 5, the condiments will first be subjected to the action of the cutting blade intended to reduce them to pieces before discharging them toward the grinder.

During the cutting phase, it will be noted that the walls of the separation means hold the condiments in order to prevent them from lying down and avoiding the blade.

The cutting blade 6 may consist of a blade of three, four or five sharp edges with each sharp edge provided with a bevel to push the condiments toward the grinder.

It can be understood on reading the above description that the condiment mill of the present invention is relatively simple to produce and can be used to grind “soft” textured products, without adversely affecting the correct operation of the mill.

Although the invention has been described with reference to one particular embodiment, it includes all the technical equivalents of the means described. 

1. A condiment mill, of the dried garlic or citrus fruit peels type, conventionally comprising a container (2) containing the condiments, a grinding mechanism (3) attached to the bottom of the container (2) and a rotary knob (4) placed on the top portion of the container (2) and connected to the grinding mechanism (3) by means of a shaft (5) called the drive shaft, in order to rotate it, this mill (1) also being provided, above the grinder (3), with a cutting blade (6) attached to the drive shaft (5), characterized in that the mill is also furnished with a means of separating the container, into at least two compartments, arranged inside said container (2) and in that this separation means (7) is shaped according to the size of the condiments in order to keep the latter in a substantially vertical position so as to slice them with the cutting blade (6).
 2. The condiment mill as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the separation means (7) consists of a ring (8) provided with means of rotary immobilization (9) intended to be housed in the top portion of the container (2), a tube (10) that is placed coaxially inside said ring (8) and that is connected to the latter by at least two vertical walls (11) protruding from the tube (10) to the periphery of the ring (8).
 3. The condiment mill as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the means of rotary immobilization of said ring (8) consist of at least one lug (9) protruding from the outer periphery of the ring (8) intended to interact with a notch (12) made on the body of the container (2).
 4. The condiment mill as claimed in any one the preceding claims, characterized in that the container (2) has in vertical section a frustoconical shape in which the imaginary top of the “V” of the truncated cone is situated in the vicinity of a bearing face (13) of the mill. 